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IAC15 Member Jaden Stapleton has received the Bronze Star Medal for Valor.

On behalf of IAC Chapter 15, congratulations, Jaden, and thank you for your service to our Country!

By 1st Lt. Brian J. Webb529th CSSB

RICHMOND, Va. — Capt. Jaden W. Stapleton of the Virginia National Guard’s Virginia Beach-based 529th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion will be awarded the Bronze Star Medal for Valor for combat actions while serving in Afghanistan. His courage and gallantry under direct enemy fire Feb. 12 helped prevent insurgents from overrunning the Provincial Police Headquarters in Kandahar and saved the life of the chief of police.

Capt. Jaden W. Stapleton of the Virginia National Guard’s Virginia Beach-based 529th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion will be awarded the Bronze Star Medal for Valor for combat actions while serving in Afghanistan. His courage and gallantry under direct enemy fire Feb. 12 helped prevent insurgents from overrunning the Provincial Police Headquarters in Kandahar and saved the life of the chief of police.

“With Capt. Stapleton’s prior experience embedded with Afghan soldiers, he showed a personal interest in protecting the Afghan Police he worked with on a daily basis,” said Lt. Col. Michelle Rose, commander of the 529th. “Very rarely do Virginia National Guard logisticians get to experience the level of relationships he has formed with our Afghan brothers in arms, and it took personal courage to respond on that day the headquarters was attacked.”

Since Sept. 11, 2001, Stapleton is only the sixth Virginia National Guard Soldier or Airmen to receive the award, the highest by any mobilized member of the Virginia National Guard since the end of World War II. The Virginia National Guard has mobilized more than 12,000 Soldiers and Airmen in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Noble Eagle since Sept. 11, 2001.

Stapleton, a native of Wichita, Kans. who resided in Sterling, Va., prior to the deployment, was partnered with the 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division’s Security Forces Advisory Team in Kandahar to mentor the Afghan National Police. While providing security at the nearby Afghan Border Police Headquarters, Stapleton’s combat patrol received notification that the Kandahar Provincial Headquarters was under intensive enemy rifle and rocket-propelled grenade fire.

Recognizing that Lt. Gen. Khan Mohammed, the provincial chief of police, was imperiled, Stapleton along with the rest of the patrol immediately moved through the crowded downtown streets of Kandahar City to relieve the besieged building.

Arriving on the scene after assaulting through the enemy’s fire in his armored vehicle, Stapleton immediately began scanning his sectors of fire from the vehicle’s turret, seeking the source of small arms fire. Stapleton immediately engaged enemy combatants with a .50 caliber machine gun while reporting enemy locations over the radio to other vehicles. Throughout the firefight, which lasted nearly an hour, Stapleton maintained suppressive fire in response to repeated enemy assaults while coordinating with the patrol leader and other advisors in adjacent vehicles.